(Chief Rabbi of Bessarabia, 1859-1941). Autograph Letter Signed, written in Hebrew on letterhead to Rabbi Moshe Nachum Yerushalmski.

TSIRELSON, YEHUDA LEIB

7th Shevat

Kishinev

1913

Sending congratulations and blessings upon the marriage of Rabbi Yerushalmski’s son, Shimon David.

A multi-talented leader, aside from his duties as a communal rabbi, R. Yehuda Leib Tzirelson was a member of the Romanian parliament and a prominent educator and Posek. In his youth Tsirelson was a student of R. Yisrael Noach Schneerson (son of the Tzemach Tzedek), who ordained him with Semichah. As Crown Rabbi of Kishinev, Tsirelson was an outspoken voice during the Mendel Beilis Blood Libel Trial. An early supporter of Mizrachi, he became disillusioned with Zionism and in 1912 was among the core group who founded the Agudath Israel movement. In the early 1920’s Tsirelson was invited by the Jews of Bessarabia to be their voice in the Romanian Parliament, so he removed to Bucharest. However, he resigned his position after the intensity of anti-Semitism was so stifling, the official parliamentary record would not even publish his speeches. Tsirelson died in Kishinev during the German bombardment. R. Moshe Nachum Yerushalmski (1855-1916) was rabbi of Kielce and a close friend and confidant of Rabbi Tsirelson.